Reuse ledger, year to date: 41,200 totes diverted from Texas landfills this year. 2,060k lb of HDPE kept in service. 1,772k lb of steel cage recovered. 3,140 tons of CO₂e avoided. 92% of our wash water recycled on site. 68 Texas counties served from one Austin yard. Full methodology at /sustainability/reuse-ledger.

Reference

Tare, gross, cube,
footprint, load.

Everything you need to plan a rack, a trailer, a floor or a forklift decision. If you are specifying equipment around IBC totes, this is the page to print.

Rows of used 275 gallon composite IBC totes stacked two high in an outdoor yard under a blue sky

The short answer

A 275 gallon tote is 48 × 40 × 46 in, 51.1 cu ft, 120–145 lb tare, and about 2,425 lb gross with water — roughly 182 lb per square foot of floor loading. A 330 is 48 × 40 × 53 in, 58.9 cu ft, 150–175 lb tare and about 2,915 lb gross, or roughly 219 lb per square foot.

From the yard

Close-up of a single 275 gallon IBC tote showing its capacity label, UN placard and blue ball valve — A 275 with the plate, the capacity label and a standard 2-inch ball valve.

Flatbed trailer loaded with two rows of IBC totes secured with straps, hooked to a blue tractor unit — Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed. Forty if they're empty.

13.3

sq ft footprint

48 × 40 in, all standard sizes.

182

lb / sq ft, full 275

219 for a full 330.

125

lb / sq ft typical mezzanine

Which is the problem.

24 in

load centre for a 48 in tote

Check your capacity plate.

Master table

Dimensions, weights and cube

Complete dimensional reference
Capacity	L × W × H (in)	Footprint (sq ft)	Cube (cu ft)	Tare (lb)	Gross w/ water (lb)	Floor load (lb/sq ft)
275 gal	48 × 40 × 46	13.3	51.1	130	2,425	182
330 gal	48 × 40 × 53	13.3	58.9	160	2,915	219
264 gal	48 × 40 × 46	13.3	51.1	125	2,325	174
350 gal	48 × 40 × 56	13.3	62.2	175	3,095	232
180 gal	48 × 40 × 39	13.3	43.3	105	1,605	120
120 gal	40 × 32 × 39	8.9	28.9	80	1,080	122
550 gal	60 × 48 × 62	20.0	103.3	290	4,875	244

Clearances

What you need to measure

Minimum clearances
Requirement	275 gal	330 gal
Doorway width (upright, on pallet jack)	44 in	44 in
Doorway height (on pallet jack)	54 in	61 in
Doorway height (on forklift forks)	58 in	65 in
Single unit clear height	48 in	55 in
Two stacked, clear height	96 in	110 in
Three stacked empty, clear height	144 in	165 in
Aisle width for a counterbalance truck	12 ft	12 ft
Fill access from ground level	Comfortable	Platform recommended

Tare detail

Where the empty weight comes from

Component weights, 275 gallon composite IBC
Component	Weight	Notes
HDPE bottle	≈ 50 lb	Varies with wall thickness and manufacturer
Steel cage	≈ 43 lb	Galvanized tubular, welded
Plastic pallet base	≈ 22 lb	Lightest option
Composite pallet base	≈ 26 lb	Most common
Wood pallet base	≈ 38 lb	Being phased out
Steel pallet base	≈ 44 lb	Heaviest, toughest
Valve, lid, gaskets	≈ 4 lb	Varies with valve type

Forklift capacity and load centres

This is the most consequential misunderstanding in tote handling. A forklift rated “5,000 lb” is rated at a specified load centre — usually 24 inches — measured from the face of the forks to the centre of gravity of the load.

A 48-inch-deep tote has its centre of gravity at 24 inches, which is the nominal case. But capacity also derates with lift height, with attachments, and with any forward shift of the load. By the time you are placing a full 330 gallon tote of syrup on the second level of a rack, the truck's actual capacity may be well below its headline number.

Read the capacity plate. It shows the derated figures. If the plate is missing or illegible, the machine should not be lifting anything, let alone 4,000 lb of liquid.

Floor and mezzanine loading

A full 275 imposes about 182 lb per square foot; a full 330 about 219. Slab-on-grade handles that without comment. Mezzanines frequently do not — a typical rating is 125 lb per square foot, and totes stacked two high double the figure again.

If totes are going anywhere other than a ground-level slab, get the structural rating in writing before you buy them.

Rack planning

Beam capacity is usually specified per pair. Two full 275s on one beam pair is about 4,850 lb; two full 330s is about 5,830 lb. Both are within the range of common beam specifications, but neither is trivial, and both assume the pallets are properly supported rather than bridging.

Clear beam-to-beam height needs to accommodate the tote plus lift clearance — roughly 55 inches for a 275 and 62 for a 330 to place comfortably.

Go deeper

Stacking is its own subject

Empty versus full, static versus transit, matched versus mixed pallets. It has its own page because getting it wrong folds cages.

Questions people actually ask

+What does an empty 275 gallon IBC tote weigh?

120 to 145 lb, depending mostly on the pallet base. Plastic bases are lightest at about 22 lb, composite around 26 lb, and full welded steel around 44 lb. Always confirm the base type if tare weight matters for your load planning.

+How do I calculate the full weight?

Gallons × product density in lb per gallon, plus the tare weight. Water is 8.34 lb/gal. Most industrial chemicals are heavier — sulfuric acid is 15.3, which puts a full 275 over 4,300 lb.

+What's the floor loading of an IBC tote?

A full 275 is about 182 lb per square foot across its 13.3 sq ft footprint; a 330 is about 219. Most mezzanines are rated at 125 lb per sq ft, which is why totes on mezzanines are a common structural problem.

+Can my forklift lift a full tote?

Check the capacity plate at the actual load centre, not the headline rating. A 48-inch-deep tote puts the load centre at 24 inches, and most trucks derate substantially from their 24-inch nominal figure once you account for lift height and attachments.

Quick reference

Numbers worth having open in another tab

The figures that come up in almost every conversation, whichever page you arrived on.

275 gallon · 1040 L

48×40×46

Tare: 130 lb
Gross, water: 2,425 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Always in stock

330 gallon · 1250 L

48×40×53

Tare: 160 lb
Gross, water: 2,915 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Always in stock

264 gallon · 1000 L

48×40×46

Tare: 125 lb
Gross, water: 2,325 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Usually in stock

350 gallon · 1325 L

48×40×56

Tare: 175 lb
Gross, water: 3,095 lb
Stack full: 2 high
Stock: Order in

Outlet thread

S60x6 — 60 mm coarse buttress. Not 2" NPT.

Grades published

N, R, F, A, B, C, X — applied at the wash bay.

Wash standards

W1 rinse through W4 caustic CIP at 160°F.

UN retest

Leakproofness 2.5 yrs, requalification 5 yrs.

From the yard notes

Longer reading on this

32 articles written by the people who wash, grade, weld and dispatch. No marketing copy in any of them.

All 32 articles

On the yard this week

While you're here

Pulled from the full FAQ, which runs to forty-plus answers across buying, grades, food safety, sizes, selling, compliance, delivery and care.

Read the full FAQ

Where we are: 3505 Montopolis Dr, Austin, TX 78744
Yard hours: Mon–Thu 7:30a–5p · Fri 7:30a–4p · Sat 8a–12p · Sun closed (Central Time)
Email: sales@ibctotestexas.com
Coverage: 68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.

+What are standard IBC tote dimensions?

48 inches long by 40 inches wide — one standard pallet position — with height varying by capacity: 46 in for 275 gallons, 53 in for 330, 56 in for 350.

+Is a 275 gallon tote the same as 1,000 litres?

No. 1,000 litres is 264 US gallons. Many sellers round it up to 275; we list both figures because eleven gallons matters if you batch to a recipe.

+How high can I stack totes?

Empty, three high indoors on a level floor. Full and static, two high on matched pallets and improved level ground. In transit, never stack full totes.

+What thread is the outlet?

S60x6 on almost every composite IBC — 60 mm coarse buttress. It is not 2 inch NPT and NPT fittings will not screw directly into it. One moulded adapter converts it to NPT, camlock or garden hose.

+How many totes fit on a truck?

Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed or dry van, regardless of whether they're 275s or 330s. Forty if they're empty and double-stacked.

Send us the space before you send us an order.

Ceiling height, beam spacing, floor rating and forklift capacity. We'd rather tell you a size won't work than deliver twenty that don't fit.

Get a quote Back to the size chart